Slide fastener



Deco 4, 1956 K. J. STALLER ETAL 2,772,469

SLIDE FASTENER Filed Feb. 8, 1952 2 SheetsSheet 2 ZETYEZTTETE United States Patent SLIDE FASTENER Karel Jan Stalier, Fairborn, Ohio, and Emil F. Svec, New York, N. Y.

Application February 8, 1952, Serial No. 270,681

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-204) This invention relates to a slide fastener and formed particularly to a slide fastener including releasably interlocking elements for securing marginal portions of .a pair of members together.

According to this invention, a pair of flexible members have integral projections or beads spaced along adjacent marginal portions thereof and arranged to be pressed into interlocking engagement with each projection 'disposed in a recess defined by adjacent projections on the other member. The projections may be interlocked by movement of a slider in one direction along the marginal portions and may be readily released by flexure of the members away from each other, as by movement of; a slider in an opposite direction along the marginal portions.

To provide the interlocking engagement, the projections have enlarged outer portions defininginwardly facing surfaces limiting relative movement of the members away from each other. Relative movement in other (i rections may be limited by inclining the projections, tapering the projections or by forming projections into ofi set portions.

The projections are preferably shaped for interfitting sealing engagement with each other so as to provide a water-tight and air-tight juncture between the members. In one preferred embodiment, the outer portions of the projections are convexly rounded for sealing engagement with concavely rounded recesses between the projections,

In another preferred form, the outer enlarged portions are generally rectangular and in a third form, the projections may have intermediate protuberances and recesses extending and facing in the direction of the marginal portions.

According to the principles of this invention, the projections may take a variety of configurations which will provide a secure interlocking sealing engagement therebetween and yet the projections may be readily shaped in a simple and economical manner.

An object of this invention, accordingly, is to provide a slide fastener including a pair of flexible members having integral interlocking projections along adjacent marginal portions thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a slide fastener with interlocking projections formed to sealingly engage in water-tight and air-tight assembly.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved slide fastener which is eflicient in operation and which is readily and economically manufacturable.

This invention contemplates other objects, features and advantages which will become more fully. apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a slide fastener constructed according to this invention with a pair of flexible mem :bers having spaced projections along the marginal por- 2,772,469 Patented Dec. 4, 1956 ice 2 tions thereof, the right-hand portion of this view illus tratihg projections in interlocking engagement and the left-hand portion of the view illustrating the projections out of interlocking engagement by flexure of the flexible members;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on a somewhat enlarged scale taken substantially along lines II-II of Figure l and illustrating one form of the projections;

Figure 3 is a view on an enlarged scale taken substantially along line Ill -III of Figure 1 looking directly at the ends of the projections;

Figures 4, 5, 6, 7' and 8 are sectional views similar to Figure 2 but illustrating various other preferred forms of the projections;

Figures 9, l0, l1 and 12 are views similar to Figure 3 but illustrating various other preferred forms of the pro factions;

Figure 13 is a plan view illustrating another preferred construction utilizing rectangulanly shaped projections; and

Figure 14 is a plan view illustrating another preferred construction using projections. having intermediate protruberances and recesses.

As shown in the drawings:

A slide fastener according to the principles of this invention is generally designated by reference numeral 20, Figure 1-. flexible members 21 and. 22 having marginal portions 23 and 24, respectively, arranged to be releasably-secured together; by means of integral projections, 25 and, 26, respectively, spaced therealong. The projections 25. define recesses 27 therebetween for receiving the projections 26 while the projections 26 define therebetween, recesses 28 for receiving the projections 25-.

According to this invention, the projections or rbeads bending or flexing the marginal portions 23 and 24 away from each other as shown in the intermediate portion of Figure 1 to. successively slide the. interengaging surfaces 29; 'an d30 out of engagement and thus open the fastener as. illustrated in the leftehand portion of Figure 1. fastener 20may, of course, be closed by a reverse operation, that is, by successively pressing the projections 25 and 26 into. interlocking engagement. closing of the fastener may be accomplishedvby any do sired means, such as for example, by a slider movable in opposite directions along the marginal portions 23 nd,-

The members 21 and 22 may be of any desired flexible material but preferably are of an organic plastic suchas, for example, the thermoplastic and th'ermosetting organic resins, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride-polyvinyl acetate copolymers, and similar vinyl: The outstanding properties of such. materials may,

resins. be fully utilized in the fastener of this invention. Parti cula'rly, use be made of thepossibility of impartingnon-unifornrhar'dnesjs to the projections or beads 25 and 26by thermal or chemical treatment. For example, the

projections 25 and 26 may' be locally hardened at and adjacent to the inter-engaging surfaces 29 and 30.

.An important feature of this invention is in the attain-..

and the recesses 27 and 28, are concavely rounded to.

receive andsealingly engage thefrounded outer portions The slide fastener 20 includes a pair of The t This opening and of the projections. It will be apparent that the preferred materials described above facilitate this sealing engagement. In particular, by locally hardening the projections at and adjacent to the surfaces 29 and 30, a strong and durable fastener is provided, while the remaining portions of the projections may be sufliciently flexible to sealingly interengage.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, it will be noted that the interengaging surface portions of the projections 25 and 26 all extend in a direction normal to a plane through and in the direction of the projections, that is, a plane parallel to the drawing surface, Figure 1. Thus, relative movement of the members in that normal direction is prevented only by the frictional interengagement of the projections 25 and 26. While this construction may be entirely satisfactory for some uses, it is highly desirable that such relative movement of the members be limited. According to this invention, the projections have a configuration such that they interengage to prevent such relative movement and, at the same time, they can be formed in a simple and economical manner.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 2, of a modified slide fastener including a pair of flexible members 31 and 32 having marginal portions 33 and 34, respectively, which have integral projections 35 and 36, respectively, spaced therealong. The projections 35 and 36 are generally similar to the projections 25 and 26 in the embodiment of Figure 1, but are inclined relative to a direction normal to a plane through and in the direction of the projections. Thus, relative movement of the members 31 and 32 in the above-mentioned normal direction is effectively prevented when the projections 35 and 36 are in interlocking engagement. At the same time, the projections 35 and 36 may be readily formed by a milling or shaping operation.

Figure illustrates another preferred embodiment in which a pair of flexible slide fastener members 37 and 38 have marginal portions 39 and 40, respectively, provided with interlockable projections spaced therealong, the engagement and disengagement of the marginal portions 39 and 40 being accomplished in a manner similar to the engagement and disengagement of the marginal portions 23 and 24 of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1. In this embodiment, the marginal portion 39 has alternate projections 41 and 42 which are oppositely inclined with respect to a direction normal to a plane through and in the direction of the projections. The marginal portion 40, likewise, has alternate oppositely inclined projections 43 and 44. It will be apparent then, with this construction, relative movement of the members 37 and 38 in any and all directions is prevented. Again, the projections 41, 42, 43 and 44 may be readily formed by a conventional milling or shaping operation.

Figure 6 illustrates another preferred embodiment in which a pair of flexible members 45 and 46 have marginal portions 47 and 48, respectively, which are provided with spaced projections therealong interlockable in a manner similar to the projections 25 and 26 of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1. In this construction, however, the marginal portion 47 has alternate projec' tions 49 and 50 which are oppositely tapered to provide surfaces oppositely inclined in relation to a direction normal to a plane through and in the direction of the projections. The marginal portion 48, likewise, is provided with alternate, oppositely tapered, projections 51 and 52- arranged to interlock in sea-ling engagement with the projections 49 and 50. With this structure, relative movement of the members 45 and 46 in any and all directions is prevented. If desired, the projections 49, 50, 51 and 52 may be of a generally conical shape.

Another preferred embodiment is illustrated in Figure 7 in which integral projections of one member have oppositely tapered portions 53 and 54 and integral projections of the other member have oppositely tapered portions 55 and 56 withthe recesses between the projections formed to attain a sealing engagement with the portions 53, 54, 55 and 56. It will be apparent that, with this construction, relative movement of the members in any direction is prevented. Although the projections of this embodiment may be formed by a molding process, each of the members is preferably formed from two portions, the projections being milled or shaped in each portion and the portions then cemented or bonded together, as illustrated in Figure 7.

Figire 8 illustrates still another preferred embodiment in which a pair of flexible slide fastener members 57 and 58 are respectively formed from a pair of members 59 and 60 and a pair of members 61 and 62. The members 59, 60, 61 and 62 are provided with integral projections 63, 64, 65 and 66 respectively, spaced therealong and shaped in a manner similar to the projections 25 and 26 in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 3. The projections 63 and 64 and the projections 65 and 66 are off-set relative to each other to provide interengageable surfaces extending parallel to a plane through and in the direction of the projections to thus prevent relative movement of the members 57 and 58 in any direction. This construction, of course, permits the projections to be readily formed by a conventional milling or cutting operation.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 3, looking directly at the ends of projections 67 of one member 68 of a modified slide fastener. The projections 67 are inclined in the direction of'the margin of the member 68 and, accordingly, are inclined relative to a direction normal to a plane through and in the direction of the projections so as to resist relative movement of slide fastener members when the projections 67 are interlocked with like projections of another member.

, Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 3, looking directly at the ends of projections 69 of one member 70 of another modified slide fastener. Each projection 69 has a pair of portions oppositely inclined in the direction of the margin of the member 70 so as to prevent relative movement in any and all directions when interlocked with like projections of another member. The projections 69 may be readily formed by a conventional milling or shaping operation by making the member of two parts cemented or bonded together, as illustrated.

members and 76 having integral projections 77 and 78, respectively, spaced therealong with the projections 77 and 78 off-set in the direction of the margin of the member 74. When the projections 77 and 78 are interlocked with like projections of another member, relative movement of the two in any and all directions is prevented.

It will be apparent that the features of any one of the embodiments illustrated in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 may be combined with the features of the embodiments illustrated in Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12. For example, projections may be oppositely inclined in the direction thereof as illustrated in Figure 5, or oppositely tapered in the direction thereof as illustrated in Figure 6, and be oppositely inclined in the directions of the margins as illustrated in Figure 11. Similarly, projections may be offset in the direction thereof as illustrated in Figure 8 and off-set in the direction of the margins as illustrated in Figure 12.

Figure 13 illustrates still another preferred slide fastener construction including a pair of members 81 and 82 having marginal portions 83 and 84, respectively, provided with integral projections 85 and 86, respectively, spaced therealong and defining recesses 87 and 88, respectively, therebetween with the recesses 87 receiving the projections 86 and the recesses 88 receiving the projections 85. The projections 85 and 86 have enlarged outer portions defining inwardly facing surfaces 89 and 90, respectively, which interengage to prevent relative movement of the members 81 and 82 away from each other. The marginal portions 83 and 84 may be engaged and disengaged in the same manner as the marginal portions 23 and 24 are engaged and disengaged in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1. The projections 85 and 86 may be inclined, tapered or off-set in the same manner as illustrated in Figures 4- through 12 to prevent relative movement of the members 81 and 82 in any and all directions. It will be apparent that this modification of Figure 13 is highly advantageous since the rectangular shape of the projections permit ready formation thereof by a conventional milling or shaping operation.

Figure 14 illustrates another preferred slide fastener embodiment in which a pair of flexible members 91 and 92 have marginal portions 93 and 94, respectively, provided with integral projections 95 and 96, respectively, spaced therealong. The projections 95 and 96 are provided with protuberances 97 and 98, respectively, extending in the direction of the margins 93 and 94 and with recesses 99 and 100, respectively, also extending in the direction of the margins 93 and 94. The projections 95 and 96 may thus be interlocked with the protuberances 97 disposed in the recesses 100 and the protuberances 98 received in the recesses 99. Thus relative movement of the members 91 and 92 away from each other is prevented. The members 91 and 92 may, however, be engaged and disengaged from each other by bending or flexing the same in a manner similar to the engagement and disengagement of the members 21 and 22 in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1. It Will be noted that the projections 95 and 96 are formed to sealingly engage and provide a water-tight and air-tight assembly. The projections 95 and 96 may, if desired, be inclined, tapered or olf-set in a manner similar to the projections of the embodiments illustrated in Figures 4 through 12, to pre vent relative movement of the members 91 and 92 in any and all directions.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A slide fastener comprising: a pair of releasably engageable flexible members having integral interlocking projections spaced along adjoining marginal portions thereof, said projections having enlarged outer portions defining interengaging inwardly facing surfaces with alternate projections having surface portions oppositely inclined with respect to a line normal to a plane through and in the direction of said projections to limit relative movement of said members in any and all directions.

2. A slide fastener comprising: a pair of releasably engageable flexible members having integral interlocking projections spaced along adjacent marginal portions thereof, said projections having enlarged outer portions defining interengaging inwardly facing surfaces and having first and second interengaging surface portions oppositely inclined with respect to a line normal to a plane through and in the direction of said projections to limit relative movement of said members in any and all directions.

3. A slide fastener comprising: a pair of releasably engageable flexible members having integral interlocking projections spaced along adjoining marginal portions thereof, each of said projections having enlarged outer portions defining inwardly facing surfaces and having first and second surface portions oppositely inclined with respect to a line normal to a plane through and in the direction of said projections to limit relative movement of said members in any and all directions.

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